


Day One-Hundred || Culture Shock

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [100]
Category: Naruto, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Death, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-11 03:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18421545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: There's always something new to learn about someone different than you. And for people of opposing elements, those differences can shock you.





	Day One-Hundred || Culture Shock

“May I ask you something?”

Looking up from his blank-minded stare into the campfire, Sasuke blinks before giving a nod.

“Do you…” A pause as Hinata tries to think of how to phrase her query. “...did you ever live anywhere with other el’ven people?”

“Yeah...why?”

“...I think I did when I was very young, but...I can’t quite remember. Most of what I  _ do _ recall is our home in the countryside. Where we met. So, before you...beyond my family, I can’t remember meeting any other el’ven. I  _ do _ remember fleeing...and when my m-mother died. But I can’t remember why, beyond the reasons my father tells me.”

“Which was?”

“Fighting broke out. Things have always been... _ tense _ between those who wield ven and those who don’t, o-of course. But for some reason, things had reached a peak that day, and...we ran. I can’t remember anything of the city we’d lived in. Someday...I think I’d like to go back.”

“Your story isn’t uncommon,” Sasuke assures her, using a bit of magic to stoke the fire. “Ever since the Rift - when the el’ven and the el’kor finally broke into war - most of our kinds have gone into hiding or seclusion. In some places, it got so bad, entire cities were left abandoned.”

Sasuke gives a nod to the sleeping mage of light. “...the place we’re going, the Luxerian capital, is one such city. Rumor has it, the Elemental themself put a dome of magic over the city to keep it untouched by any el’kor seeking to loot it. It’s stood empty since the day of the coup at the Elemental Summit.”

“...if that’s true, then...how will we get in?”

“She seems to think if she goes, something will happen. For a while now, everyone’s believed her kind extinct. So there haven’t been any other lux’el’ven to try it. But maybe with her ven, she can bring down the barrier...or at least let us pass through it. And there...she thinks we’ll find a way to fully cure my brother of his illness. Which,” Sasuke adds, shifting position atop his log, “is the only reason I agreed to this hare-brained adventure.”

Hinata hums, lost in thought. “...so, why did  _ you _ leave...where you were before?”

“Same as you. Fighting broke out, and it wasn’t safe to stay. My whole clan lived in that city...and we were scattered to the four winds. My father was clan head. A huge influence in our city. And now? He lives in hiding with his family in the woods.”

“...was it...d-did anyone die?”

“Plenty. Ironically enough, it was the night we were putting one of our own to rest. A friend of the two who raised the light mage. He’d been there when they found her. Died trying to save her mother. We were just lighting the funeral pyre when -”

“W-what?!”

Sasuke startles, not expecting to be interrupted. “...what?”

“You  _ burn _ your dead…?”

His brow furrows. “Well, yeah...we’re disciples of Ignitrios. The Elemental of fire. What better way to return to the earth than as ashes?”

Hinata’s face is full of horror. “But…”

“Well, what do  _ your _ people do?”

“We...we return to the place of our birth, which - i-if done properly - is near a body of water. The ocean, a lake, a river...anything like that. And we’re returned to the water.”

“So, fish food?”

It’s Hinata’s turn to frown. “...our people are connected to the water. Of course we go back to it.”

“Yeah. Just like  _ we _ go back in fire.”

“But that’s so...gruesome!”

“So is being a soggy corpse! You’d rather be waterlogged and wrinkly than -?”

“All right you two...that’s enough.”

They both look over, quieting as they see they’ve woken Itachi. “...brother, you should be sleeping -”

“I was,” Itachi replies good-naturedly, carefully taking a seat beside his brother. “But it’s a bit noisy tonight.”

Both young elves look aside, sheepish.

“Not to worry. A little missed sleep isn’t going to kill me.”

Sasuke flinches. “You shouldn’t talk of your health so lightly -”

“I’m fine, Sasuke. I do a little better every day, thanks to my new treatment. Admittedly, I’m still weak...but not to a degree that a short night’s rest will ruin me. Worry not.”

Still, Sasuke and Hinata both look thoroughly chastised.

“So, discussing the differences in our culture, are we? It must be quite a shock...especially given how isolated you’ve both been since you were young. I imagine that - before the Rift, when we were all far more connected (as we should be) - such differences were more openly discussed, and therefore a bit easier to swallow. The ven in our veins means a different calling when death finds us. Though we all relinquish our two forms - the spirit granted to us by Luxeria, and the body by Tenebreos - when we die, our methods for how each are treated vary, as dictated by our beliefs stemming from our patron Elementals.”

“...I suppose that makes sense,” Hinata admits quietly. “It’s just so…”

“Each element treats it differently. Therian disciples, for example, are the most direct: they bury their dead into the earth to be taken back into the dirt.”

Both Hinata and Sasuke startle “What?”

“But that’s so...so…!”

“Strange, yes? To us both, it is. But for them, it’s how they feel the most connected to Thera when they die. Just as Ignitrian disciples burn their dead, and Auquianan disciples return theirs to the water. Our elements are part of us...and so we are part of them, when the time comes.”

The group goes quiet, lost in their thoughts, until Hinata speaks up. “...what about Luxerians? What do they do?”

“That, I will admit, I do not know. And given her upbringing by those outside her bloodline, I doubt our companion knows, either. Perhaps such knowledge isn’t completely lost, however - it may yet be found in the old Luxerian capital. There may be a great number of things we may find there thought lost to the ages. Luxeria’s protections, I hope, have kept such things safe...awaiting the return of their line.”

“Well...hopefully funeral rites for a lux mage aren’t something we’ll need any time soon,” Sasuke mutters. “We need her alive to keep  _ you _ alive.”

“Indeed we do...but she has far greater tasks to attend to than the life of one igni mage, my dear brother. For that reason and many more, we must endeavor to keep her safe.” With that, Itachi claps Sasuke atop the shoulder. “Now...I think I’ll try to get some sleep before it’s my turn to keep watch. Wake me when it’s time to trade.”

“...all right.” Watching him go, Sasuke sighs.

“So,” Hinata asks, smiling teasingly. “If I die on this journey of ours...will you take my body to the ocean?”

“No.”

She sharply frowns. “...why not?”

All this talk of death...it bothers him. Not with his brother’s health still on the line. And Hinata, she…

“...because I’m not going to let you die,” Sasuke retorts, getting to his feet. “...I’m going to patrol the area. We’ll wake them when I return.”

Looking a bit taken aback, it takes Hinata a moment to nod, watching him go. Gaze then dropping to the campfire, she mulls over his words in silence.

_...neither will I, Sasuke. _

**Author's Note:**

> So I know this crossover (technically with my own original lore) isn't the most popular, BUT...I thought it'd make sense for the prompt! I could have done AtLA, but...I wasn't sure I knew enough to make it work. My own lore, of course, I know inside and out. So I hope you'll indulge me =P
> 
> Each of the twelve elements in DLDS handles death differently. Even the atmosphere of funerals can vary widely: some are somber, serious occasions, while some are more akin to celebrations. So to say that the differences can be shocking - especially in the time period this crossover takes place in, being that when the el'ven people are still mostly in hiding - is a bit of an understatement. 
> 
> Anywho, that'll do it for today! Thanks so much for reading n_n


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